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Anaheim Commissioner John Santoianni received the endorsement of the Democratic Party of Orange County (DPOC) for his bid for a seat on the Anaheim City CouncilÂ at the Central Committee’s endorsement meeting on last Thursday Night. Santoianni, who was first appointed to the Anaheim Cultural and Heritage Commission by Councilwoman Lucille Kring (a Republican) in January 2009, was appointed to the Community Services Commission by Councilwoman Lorri Galloway (a Democrat)Â in June 2010.

Santoianni highlighted the endorsement of Buena Park Mayor Art Brown (a Democrat),the Elections Committee of the County of Orange (ECCO), and Bill Taormina, CEO & Founder of Clean City, Inc. in a press announcement about the endorsement of the DPOC. Santoianni states on his website:

I am working to improve our quality of life, spur revenue, and promote small business growth throughout the city. In Sacramento, as Assemblyman Jose Solorio’s (who at this time has not endorsed Santoianni for City Council) appointed delegate to the Democratic convention, I helped pass a resolution to protect consumers from usurious credit card interest rates and payday advance fees. I also went against party leadership and voted against supporting Propositions 1A through 1F that included a $16 billion tax increase, promoted gambling, and would take money away from children’s health care & mental health programs. I do not take marching orders from any political party, large corporation, or union leadership. I am an independent thinker who is committed to listening to, and working for, you, the average citizen.

Anaheim businessman Bill Dalati also received the DPOC endorsement of his City Council campaign as well.

Given the criticism I’ve been getting, I wanted to make sure that everyone knew that John was originally appointed to a city commission by a Republican who is now challenging Lou Correa. I did forget to mention that the Democrat who appointed John to his current position endorsed Lou Correa’s opponent in the last election cycle.

Given your standards for partisan cleanzing these facts should exclude any support by Democrats, and certainly liberals, for Santoianni.

1) When I was appointed to my first commission I simply went to City Hall, filled out an application, then appeared before the entire council where Lucille nominated me and the entire Council voted unanimously to appoint me. I had never met any of the Council Members before appearing that day. I just walked up to the podium and pled my case to be appointed. Since it was Lucille’s “turn” to nominate someone and I impressed her she put my name into nomination. Politics wasn’t involved in this.

2) When I was appointed to my second (current) commission I applied again and was nominated by Lorri Galloway and I received 5 votes (of 7) with Lucille not voting for me. This might have been political on Lucille’s part since she (by this time) knew I am a Democrat and was running for City Council. Lorri and I had spoken by this point about my interest in this commission since it was her “turn” to nominate someone and she thought I would be a good person for the job.

How these things link me negatively or positively to Lou Correa is up to the reader to decide.